Zirconium and hafnium separation, part 2. Solid/liquid extraction in hydrochloric acid aqueous solution with anion exchange resins

Sorption behavior of zirconium and hafnium on different commercial anion exchange resins with different amine functions; ammonium (Amberjet 4200Cl), pyridine (PVP) and pyridinium (HPQ) was investigated in hydrochloric acid by both batch and column methods. Experiments were studied as a function of the concentration of hydrochloric acid. For all resins, zirconium was preferably extracted. The highest separation factors at equilibrium conditions were obtained by poly(vinyl-pyridine) (PVP) with a hydrochloric acid concentration of 9.5 M. It was observed that a single contact of the loaded resins with pure water completely back extracted the metal ions from the resins. On the basis of the significant difference between distribution coefficients of Zr and Hf, the separation was performed on a glass column (25x160 mm), packed with the resin. The breakthrough curves showed a competitive sorption and desorption process between Zr and Hf for the three resins studied.